Posts by Dan Malouff

Dan Malouff is a transportation planner for Arlington and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. He has a degree in urban planning from the University of Colorado and lives in Trinidad, DC. He runs BeyondDC and contributes to the Washington Post. Dan blogs to express personal views, and does not take part in GGWash's political endorsement decisions.

The Beltway is one of the Washington's region's most well-known geographic features. Its ring around DC forms an unofficial boundary between the region's core and rim. Would that hold true if it were around another city? How does the Beltway compare to other ring roads? Keep reading…

There is much confusion over what separates streetcars from light rail. That’s because there’s no single easy way to tell, and many systems are hybrids. To tell the difference, one has to simultaneously look at the tracks, train vehicles, and stations. Keep reading…

In the Washington region we have Metro and commuter rail trains, with light rail, streetcars, and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) all in the works—and of course, regular buses. But one common mode we don’t have is DMU trains, which bridge the gap between light rail and commuter rail. Keep reading…

This incredible animation shows all—or at least most—of the trains and buses that run up and down the east coast, from Northern Virginia to New England, over the course of one 24 hour weekday. Keep reading…

From November 2018 through New Year's Day, the US Botanic Garden featured a unique display of model train stations, all built from stems, twigs, leaves, and other plant parts. Just in case the transit nerd in your life missed it, here's a rundown of the most interesting models. Keep reading…

Paris has one of the world’s great subway systems. Beyond its truly impressive coverage and service quality, here are eight wonderful details about how it operates that US systems would do well to mimic. Keep reading…

Capping an underground parking garage with a public park is such a nice idea. It’s a shame DC’s most prominent example is such a terrible park. The South Capitol parking crater is undeniably one of DC’s most inappropriately underused plots of land. It’s six complete blocks of parking lots, all in a cluster mere steps from the US Capitol. Keep reading…

Listen to any discussion of highway congestion and you will inevitably hear about Level of Service (LOS), which assigns a letter grade to the congestion level of road segments. Letter grades start with ‘A’ for free flow and run down to ‘F’ for “failing” (congested) roads. Simple enough…except that it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Keep reading…

Alexandria is redrawing its DASH bus lines from the ground up. In so doing, the community must choose between competing priorities: Will buses come as often as possible but on only a few streets, or cover more land with routes that come much less often? Keep reading…

On June 24, 2018, the Pulse BRT opened along Richmond's Broad Street corridor. It's the second bus rapid transit line in Virginia, and the first in Richmond. I recently visited, and naturally nerded out, camera in tow. Keep reading…

Here in Washington, DC, rowhouses are the city's most common housing type. But throughout most of the rest of the United States, they're comparatively rare. This map shows where you'll find them, and where you won't. Keep reading…